This is an 80's comedy that was released exactly the same time Back To The Future was released in the summer of 1985. Back to the Future was enormously more successful than Heavenly Kid not for conceptual reasons, but Back to the Future had better supporting cast, better lead characters and was gifted with a better screenplay. In fact you can ask anyone over 40 today about Back to the Future and 9/10 would remember the popularity of Back to the Future while I am certain that 1/10 of them would recall The Heavenly Kid. It was basically a Box Office bomb.
Although Heavenly Kid suffers from corny and cheesy clichés whilst having an inferior cast of actors I cannot help but have a strong sentiment attached to it. It has a very sweet and altruistic message of love and sacrifice while earning salvation through the main character. The theme here is actually more deep and profound than Back to the Future, so I think it's inferior popularity begs the question as to why this is so. Heavenly Kid suffers from a lack elementary directing skills, a satisfying script and perhaps some realistic twists. Technical merit and acting is not top notch here and these few deficiencies contribute to its inferiority compared to its better contemporary. It is important for every serious movie reviewer to analyze movies with similar themes in order to decode what went wrong for the poorer of the two.
The story begins in the early 1960's where a group of youths are meeting near a cliff to watch two adversaries duel in a game of chicken to settle their differences. As we think our hero, Bobby, has won the match he gets his jacket sleeve caught in the gear shifter - (In typical fashion reminiscent of Rebel without a Cause. His car plunges down a cliff where it explodes into his demise. The following scenes are set in a Limbo-esque environment where he is unsure where he is. He meets with Rafferty, perfectly played by Richard Mulligan. Rafferty is sort of his Liaison who will guide him from Limbo to heaven. This is sort of a meet-cute where we have an experienced and crusty old man teaching the young and rebellious kid about how to earn his wings and seek redemption. Richard Mulligan has never been better and he is perfectly comfortable in this role as a no nonsense mentor. He explains to Bobby that his job is to help another person. But Bobby is not very sophisticated or intelligent to understand what this entails. At first this gets over his greasy haired head. Bobby is to help a weak and wimpy teenager named Lenny who gets picked on by a couple of bullies at school. Lenny has that typical aggravating existence of insecurity where he gets little respect and cannot muster enough self-confidence to defend himself. Bobby is the polar opposite of Lenny in Character. He's slimy, confident, tough as nails, stronger than an ox and is as manly as they come. When Bobby observes Lenny and learns that this will be his assignment he is not too keen on the idea, but would rather go through than settle for the alternative. While Lenny is reading a poem near a cliff he unexpectedly loses his balance and the clumsy kid plummets about a 100 feet until this strange guy, Bobby, catches the clumsy Lenny in his arms. Bobby makes a wry comment about how the kid should be careful. As Lenny's limp body is cradled in Bobby's arms he precariously opens his eyes to see what has happened. Befuddled by this stranger's sudden appearance and incredible strength, he regains composure. Bobby plants Lenny back on his feet and walks off as the kid thanks him. Bobby thinks this is the extent of his assignment, but Rafferty doesn't let Bobby earn the prize so easily. His job is to inspire confidence in this insecure and wimpy teenager. You can pretty much guess at this point where the movie is headed. The rest of the film combines a mixture of mildly crude and scatological humor while also being corny. The parents always appear to be your typical parents of 80's movies. The cute girls are always flirtatious and suggest a propensity to sex more than girls in reality are. The Heavenly Kid is actually pretty stupid at times with its silly themes, but the story redeems itself in the final 20 minutes where our lead character chooses to save his friend's life instead of saving his soul - the ultimate expression of loyalty and friendship.
Lenny does become more popular with the girls as a result of changing his dress and attitude, courtesy of Bobby's mentoring. But Lenny only changes his façade. He lacks the toughness and strength to defend himself against physical fights. He relies on Bobby's toughness and fighting strengths to save his life and protect him in fights. Bobby, in essence, acts as his Guardian angel, bodyguard, mentor and fiend.
In the climax, it's Bobby who learns the most about himself and that sometimes being tough and acting cool is not enough in life.
Although Heavenly Kid suffers from corny and cheesy clichés whilst having an inferior cast of actors I cannot help but have a strong sentiment attached to it. It has a very sweet and altruistic message of love and sacrifice while earning salvation through the main character. The theme here is actually more deep and profound than Back to the Future, so I think it's inferior popularity begs the question as to why this is so. Heavenly Kid suffers from a lack elementary directing skills, a satisfying script and perhaps some realistic twists. Technical merit and acting is not top notch here and these few deficiencies contribute to its inferiority compared to its better contemporary. It is important for every serious movie reviewer to analyze movies with similar themes in order to decode what went wrong for the poorer of the two.
The story begins in the early 1960's where a group of youths are meeting near a cliff to watch two adversaries duel in a game of chicken to settle their differences. As we think our hero, Bobby, has won the match he gets his jacket sleeve caught in the gear shifter - (In typical fashion reminiscent of Rebel without a Cause. His car plunges down a cliff where it explodes into his demise. The following scenes are set in a Limbo-esque environment where he is unsure where he is. He meets with Rafferty, perfectly played by Richard Mulligan. Rafferty is sort of his Liaison who will guide him from Limbo to heaven. This is sort of a meet-cute where we have an experienced and crusty old man teaching the young and rebellious kid about how to earn his wings and seek redemption. Richard Mulligan has never been better and he is perfectly comfortable in this role as a no nonsense mentor. He explains to Bobby that his job is to help another person. But Bobby is not very sophisticated or intelligent to understand what this entails. At first this gets over his greasy haired head. Bobby is to help a weak and wimpy teenager named Lenny who gets picked on by a couple of bullies at school. Lenny has that typical aggravating existence of insecurity where he gets little respect and cannot muster enough self-confidence to defend himself. Bobby is the polar opposite of Lenny in Character. He's slimy, confident, tough as nails, stronger than an ox and is as manly as they come. When Bobby observes Lenny and learns that this will be his assignment he is not too keen on the idea, but would rather go through than settle for the alternative. While Lenny is reading a poem near a cliff he unexpectedly loses his balance and the clumsy kid plummets about a 100 feet until this strange guy, Bobby, catches the clumsy Lenny in his arms. Bobby makes a wry comment about how the kid should be careful. As Lenny's limp body is cradled in Bobby's arms he precariously opens his eyes to see what has happened. Befuddled by this stranger's sudden appearance and incredible strength, he regains composure. Bobby plants Lenny back on his feet and walks off as the kid thanks him. Bobby thinks this is the extent of his assignment, but Rafferty doesn't let Bobby earn the prize so easily. His job is to inspire confidence in this insecure and wimpy teenager. You can pretty much guess at this point where the movie is headed. The rest of the film combines a mixture of mildly crude and scatological humor while also being corny. The parents always appear to be your typical parents of 80's movies. The cute girls are always flirtatious and suggest a propensity to sex more than girls in reality are. The Heavenly Kid is actually pretty stupid at times with its silly themes, but the story redeems itself in the final 20 minutes where our lead character chooses to save his friend's life instead of saving his soul - the ultimate expression of loyalty and friendship.
Lenny does become more popular with the girls as a result of changing his dress and attitude, courtesy of Bobby's mentoring. But Lenny only changes his façade. He lacks the toughness and strength to defend himself against physical fights. He relies on Bobby's toughness and fighting strengths to save his life and protect him in fights. Bobby, in essence, acts as his Guardian angel, bodyguard, mentor and fiend.
In the climax, it's Bobby who learns the most about himself and that sometimes being tough and acting cool is not enough in life.
